Making It Count...

I've got the ice-pack on my hand, bags under my eyes and a goofy grin on my face today. My weekend was spent at Shishu Polli Plus, a women and children's refuge in Mowna, about an hour and a half from Dhaka...

From the invitation letter sent out to prospective volunteers:

In cooperation with Shishu Polli Plus, a village in Mowla, about 2 hours from Dhaka, The Big Bangs will be running a 1-day clinic at the village, handing out t-shirts and basketballs and installing 4 new basketball rims and backboards.

The village is a refuge for women and children, with some 350 children, many of them orphans, living on-site. We expect to cater for about 480 kids during the clinic. The Big Bangs have previously run a kids camp in cooperation with Home for Hope, an orphanage and school in Tongi.

This camp is yet another big step for the Big Bangs, and we cordially invite you to be part of the experience.


It was always going to be an ambitious project; 480 children over a single day, installation of backboards and rims, painting of the court, managing food and water , donating shirts and basketballs and air-pumps...

It's Sunday today, and though completely exhausted, I'm running on both a sense of pride and a sense of acheivement; 30 volunteers, 2 buses, 22 basketballs, 4 rims and backboards, 400 bottles of cola and lemonade, 200 bottles of water, 100 sandwiches, 500 t-shirts, 30 cans of spray-paint, 24 boxes of acrylic paint, 3,000 taka worth of spray paint, 2 "tourist coaches"... the numbers keep piling on...

We accepted a range of volunteers; some 14 from the International School, a handful from the American School, the rest a smattering of expats in various roles rangeing from teachers to doctors...

I was thinking of describing the 2 days; setting up on the 1st day, the kids on the 2nd day, how the Big Bangs Jnr team were so mature and great with the kids, how the place is still buzzing from our visit...

But I can't seem to write anything without getting a little choked up...

I told potential volunteers that our mission for the day was to allow kids to just be kids for a day...

Turns out, Rod and I love being kids for a day too...

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